Apparently I am in my cake era.
I saw this recipe in the March 23rd issue of the Wall Street Journal and it looked cool. Figured it might be nice for Easter Sunday.
Just a few changes from the original recipe, and I was able to make it without eggs or dairy, just for fun. As luck had it, it turned out really delicious.
The original recipe was from Vallery Lomas. Here are her ingredients.
- Unsalted butter, softened, for greasing pan
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1½ packed cups peeled and grated carrots
- ½ packed cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup chopped pecans
I used non-stick spray oil on the pan instead of butter, substituted 6 T of aquafaba for the two eggs, and made the buttermilk with a quarter cup of oat milk and a teaspoon of white vinegar.
The aquafaba, oil, curdled oat milk, vanilla extract, sugar and salt all go into a bowl for whisking until they are thoroughly combined and a bit thickened.
Next come the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, and more whisking until it’s all incorporated into a batter consistency.
Finally, I added the carrots, coconut shreds and pecans and incorporated them.
I baked it for 40 minutes at 350 °F, but should have left it a bit longer. It was delicious, but still a bit too moist, and I had difficulty getting it out of the pan in one piece.
For the frosting, instead of using Lomas’ recipe for cream cheese icing, I found this one from the Roasted Root. I used honey instead of maple syrup, oat milk instead of almond, and added an extra tablespoon of lemon juice for extra tang. I also screwed up and only used 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, but I think that actually made it taste a little more like actual cream cheese icing.
- 2 cups of raw cashews, soaked in water overnight and drained
- 1/3 cup + 1 t honey
- 3 T lemon juice
- 1/4 cup oat milk
- 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 1/4 t sea salt
This all went into the Vitamix and blended for about a minute until it was the right consistency.
Like in Lomas’ original, I sprinkled some toasted coconut shreds on the top after icing, and added some half pecans for decoration.
This is definitely one that I would make again. Other than having to get the cashews soaking the night before, it went together pretty quickly and since there’s only one bowl involved, and no need for a mixer, cleanup was quick too. The non-vegans liked it, and said that the frosting was indistinguishable from a full cream cheese version.